Improvement in cultivators



Huant'ed Feb. 8,1876.

Nuns.

ATTORNEYS iLPETiRS, PHOTO-LITHDGRAPNER\v WASHINGTON, D. C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. H. MOSHER.

. CULTIVATOR.

.173,3z4 Patented FebQB, 1876-.

WITNESSES INVENTOR MM,

l ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES- PATENT @rrron WILLIAM H. MOSHEB, OF owosso, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN CULTIVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 173,324, dated February 8, 1876 application filed November 6, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HE RYMQ- SHER, of Owosso, in the county of Shiawassee and State of Michigan, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Cultivators and Weeders; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion of the constructionand operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of a bottom view of my cultivator and weeder. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a front View. Fig. 4 is a plan view. Fig. 5 is a detail view.

This invention has for its object the improvement of implements for cultivating and weeding the'soil; and it consists in certain novel means and devices, substantially as herein set forth, whereby the weed-cutter blades and the cultivating-shovels are made respectively adjustable to or from each other,

according to the distance between the rows of plants, as will be hereinafter more'fully explained.

In the annexed drawings, the letters A A represent strong rectangular boards of suitable length and width, which constitute the beams of my improved weeder and cultivator. These sections are arranged at a suitable distance apart, and are connected by raised metallic braces B of the form of an inverted let-' ter U. They are also provided with wheels 0, arranged in bearings upon their front ends,

which support that portion of the frame, andtheir upper and lower surfaces with metallic plates 0, through which are cut, at a suitable distance apart, and at right angles to the length of the machine, slots 01 d, which register with similar slots made in the boards A A, and are in the same vertical plane in bothwith a collar, f, which will prevent the shanks or standards 0 from undue upward penetration. Weed-cutters E are secured to beam sections A A by means of a washer or washers, g, and a clamp-nut, it, applied upon the projecting screw-threaded upper end of the said shanks. By this means blades E are adjustable to or from each other. They are capable also of being angled in relation to each other, so as to weed only a very narrow strip, as when the rows of plants are very close together, and the machine is run. between the said rows, or a very broad strip, as when the rows are very far apart. They are also capable of being arranged, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to leave a space between'the front ends of the cutter-blades.

In this. arrangement the weeder will straddle the row, and the plants will pass between the front edges of the blades and under the bridge-braces B B, the weeds being cut down on both sides of the said row. I

In order to prevent earth, stones, or other objects from falling upon and crushing young plants, I employ vertical guard -plates F F. These plates are arranged in rear of the front ends of the weed-cutters, and are provided with angular shanks 1, having a slot, m, cut

in their horizontal parts t, and they are secured to the beam-sections A A by means of a bolt, a, passing up through slots m and 01, respectively, in the shank of the guard-plates and sections A A, and a nut, h, applied upon the screw-threaded upper ends of the said bolts, as shown in Fig. 2. By this means these plates are adjustable to or from each other, as the weeder-plates are angled in relation to the sections, for the purpose of approximating or separating their front ends j j,

so as to weed nearer to or farther from the roots of the plants. These plates, being of suitable height and'length, and being arranged just in rear of the weeders E E, will prevent the undermining action of the latter from rolling heavy objects upon and crushing or bruising the plants. Plates E'E are removable from the beam-sections, and, when a simple weeder is required, may be dispensed with,

altogether-that is, where it is only intended to cut down weeds preparatory to plowing them under.

The implement above described may be converted at any time into a between-row cultivator and weeder by detaching the guardplates, and substituting in lieu thereof moldboards G G, which, like the said plates, are secured to an angular metallic shank, I, having a slot, m, cut in the horizontal part of the shanks, by means of the bolt n, washer or washers g, and clamp-nut h. The penetration into the soil, both of the weeder-plates and mold-boards, may be increased byremoving the washers from the upper ends of bolts n 0, replacing them thereon next the heads and collars n f, and reapplying the said bolts or standards, as above described, to the beamsections. v

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a weeder, the combination of the beamseetions A A, connected by arched braces B, and providedwith spaced transverse slots d d, the horizontally-vibratory and laterallyadjustable weed-cuttin g blades E, and the plow G, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY MOSHER.

Witnesses:

GEO. R. Moms, 0. E. HERSHEY. 

